Method of and apparatus for steaming and refinishing cloth



March 4, 1930. COHEN 1,749,564

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR STEAMING AND REFINISHING CLOTH Filed April 15, 1929 v throughout its entire length, without scorch- Patented Mar. 4, 1930 ISREAL COHEN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR STEAMING AND REFINISHING CLOTH Application filed April 13,

My invention. relates to a newand useful method of and apparatus for steaming and refinishing cloth incident to the shrinking thereof, before use or consumption.

It has heretofore been the practice to employ a manually or electrically rotated steam cylinder over'which thecloth to be steamed and refinished was adapted to pass and around which said cloth was simultaneously Wound into a roll of a thickness commensurate with the length of the cloth being treated, there being an upper idle 'press roll coacting with said steam cylinder to supply the necessary pressure for refinishing or smoothing out the cloth. y

This practice was disadvantageous in that the innermost layers of the cloth being treated, that is, the layers of cloth contacting with or immediately adjacent the superheated steam cylinder were scorched, while the outer layers were far removed from the steam cylinder by the intervening layers of the cloth Wound around the steam cylinder.

A furtherdisadvantage lay in" the fact that when the steamed and refinished roll of cloth is wound around the steam cylinder, it is necessary to remove the latter entirely and to install a fresh steam cylinder for the treatment of another roll of cloth. This not only involved the constant connection and disconnection of the steam cylinder to the steam supply pipes, but also necessitated the maintenance of a large number of steam cylinders, thus greatly increasing the capital investment in addition to decreasing the efficiency.

Itis the object of my invention to obviatev these disadvantages and to provide means whereby the cloth being steamed and refinished is uniformly and sufliciently treated ing some portions of'said cloth and insufliciently, steaming and refinishing other por- ,tions thereof. i

7 .A further object of my invention is to provide novelmeans wherein a single steam cylinder may be employed for the treatment of any number of rolls of cloth successively without the necessity of connecting, disconnecting and re-connecting the steam cylinder after the refinishing and steaming of each roll der rotatably mounted thereon,

the various instrumentalities of which my inrolling device embodying my 1929. Serial No. 354,846.

of cloth, thus effecting considerable economy in the cost of equipment and the cost of operation. e

To the above ends my invention consists of an upright frame, an apertured steam cylinan idler press roll superimposed upon said steam cylinder and coacting therewith, the axis of said press roll being out of vertical alignment with that of said steam cylinder, and a platform in advanceof and below said steam cylinder, upon which the cloth being treated is adapted to travel as it is fed or propelled to said steam cylinder.

My invention further consists in the novel method of winding the cloth after it is steamed and refinished, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

For the purpose of illustrating my inventionI have shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that vention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1, represents a front elevation of a cloth steaming and refinishing device embodying my invention. 0

Figure 2, represents on an enlarged scale, 0 a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1, illustrating the manner of carrying out my novel method by means of my novel apparatus.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like parts, 1 designates a cloth steaming, refinishing and invention, comthe transverse, platform mem- 5 prising the uprights 2 and horizontal brace and table or her 3. 4 designates a steam cylinder perforated at 5 and supplied with live steam through the feed pipe 7, the valve 8 and the suitably packed coupling 9, said. steam cylinder having at the other end thereof a shaft vm0 carrying the sprocket wheel 10, over which passes-the sprocket chain 11, which in turn is actuated by a suitable source of power (not shown) it being understood that the actuation or rotation of the steam cylinder can be effected in any other desired or suitable manner. V

The'steam' cylinder 4 is covered with one or more layers of canvas, duck or other fabric 12 to insulate the cloth 13 from immediate contact with the outer metallic surface of the steam cylinder 4, to prevent scorching of said cloth, and to disperse or diffuse the jets of steam emanating from the ports or perforations 5 of said steam cylinder to effect uniform distribution of the steam to all parts of the cloth 13. The parts heretofore "described are'conventional, and as stated, it has heretofore been the practice to wind the cloth 13 continuously over the steamcyl'in'der 4 in the direction of the arrows 14 and 15 so that the innermost layersof the cloth 13, that is, those layers of thecloth 13 contacting with or immediately adjacent the canvaslayers 12,were superheated and scorched while the outermost layers of the roll'of cloth formed on said steam cylinder were necessarily underheated and not sufliciently steamed.

By my invention, I employ an idle press roll 16 loosely superimposed upon the steam cylinder 4, and suitably covered with layers of canvas or duck 18. The pressroll'16 has the journals the nuts 20, which engage the outersurfaces of the uprights 2 to prevent the longitudinal displacement of said press rollas will be understood from Figure 1. The journals 19 0f the press roll 16 are positioned-between the uprights 2 and the vertical plane ofthe axis of the steam cylinder'4 (see FigureQ) so'that said .press roll or idler gravitates'towards said uprights and no extraneous retaining means are necessary for retainingsaid'press roll in operative relation upon said steam cylinder. With this novel mechanical arrangement, I carry out my novel method of steaming and refinishing the cloth13-by feeding the cloth 13in the direction of the arrow 14 over the steam cylinder 4 in the direction of the arrow 15, and reversing the winding of the cloth 13' over the idlepress roll 16 in the direction of the arrow;21, By this arrangement I assure the uniform and sufficient steaming of every portion of thecloth 13, since it passes in but a singlesthi'ckness over the steam cylinder 4, and I- guard against damaging any particular portion of the cloth by protracted steaming or excessive temperature as invariably occurs when prior art constructions are employed, wherein the roll of cloth 13 is wound continuously around the steam cylinder, thusb'ringing the innermost layers of cloth into immediate contact with the superheated steam cylinder, as hereinabove explained.

Furthermore, by winding the 01cm 13 19, the outer ends of which carry around the press roll 16 instead of around the steam cylinder 4, it is merely necessary to remove the loosely mounted press roll 16 carrying the roll of cloth which has'been steamed and refinished, thus obviating the necessity of disconnecting and reconnecting the steam cylinder 4, which would be necessary were the roll of cloth 13 wound around said steam cylinder. By winding the cloth over or around the press roll16, which is but a solid roll of any desired size, and hence not as expensive as the steam cylinder4,I reduce the number of steam cylinders're'quired and increase the number of press rolls 16 needed, thereby effecting a saving in the initial cost of the equipment necessary. e

I further increase the efliciency of the device by-obviating the necessity of repeatedly disconnecting the heated steam cylinder after the treatment of each roll ofcloth, thus econbodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive reference being bad to the appended claims rather than to-the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention. V i 7 Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is: I

1. Ina deviceofthe' character'sta'ted, an

- upright frame, a perforated cylinder. rotatably carried by said frame, means forfrota'ting said cylinder, an idlepress roll positioned upon and rotatable with said cylinder, the longitudinal axis of said press rollbeingudisposed between vertical planes passing through said upright frame and through the longitudinal axis of said cylinder, "andend I am aware that the'invention'ma'y be em-' journalsfor said press roll adapted tofbear I against the u-pper ends'of said frame to prevent horizontal displacement of said pressroll. 7 2. In a cloth steaming and refinishing device, an upright frame, aperforated cylinder rotatably carried by said frame below the upper ends thereof, means for rotatingsaid cylinder, a steam supply therefor, an idle press roll positioned upon androtatable with said cylinder, thelongitudinal axis of said press roll being disposed between vertical planes passing through said upright frame and through the lon 'tudinal axis of said cylinder, and journals or said ress roll adapted to engage the juxtaposed aces of said upright frame to prevent horizontal displacement of said press roll, and adjustment nuts carried by said end journals adapted to engage the outer faces of said upright frame to prevent longitudinal displacement of said press roll.

' 3. In a device of the character stated, means for supporting and rotating a perforated steam cylinder, an upper idle press roll positioned upon and rotatable with said cylinder,'the longitudinal axis of said press roll being out of vertical alignment With the axis of said cylinder, journals for said press roll,

I and abutments for said ournals.

SREAL COHEN. 

